Vayakhel – Pekudei … “And He Blessed Them”

 
And Moshe saw all that Israel did - and he blessed them
Selected commentators explain what it means for Israel to have done all they were commanded when actually the artisans did the work.

We read in the second of the two parshiot read on this Shabbat - Parashat Pikudei - of that wondrous day, when (39:32-43) ‘All of the work of the Mishkan was completed..; They brought the Mishkan to Moshe, the tent and all its furnishings..; Like everything that Hashem had commanded Moshe, so did the children of Israel perform all the labor; Moshe saw the entire מלאכה: work, and behold they had done it as Hashem had commanded, so had they done. And Moshe blessed them.’

TheAbarbanel expounds:’From the order of these psukim, it appears that the wise men who did the work, when they heard from Moshe what Hashem had commanded to do in their work, did so in their tents, and did not show their work to Moshe, until ot had been completed; further, Moshe did not go to them, to see what they were doing.
For this reason, the Torah describes each of the items of their work, which they brought to him, one by one, in the order it was to be utilized.
‘This is why the Torah concludes:’Moshe saw the entire work, and behold - they had done it as Hashem had commanded’ - only after it had all been completed. He was amazed that not one of the artisans deviated in any detail from his command, nor forgot any of it.
‘This - he concluded - could only be because of their wisdom and alacrity, and therefore gave them his blessing, as they merited it.’

Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl first asks:’Why did the Torah here not combine the two concluding psukim, into one, and why, in each of them, did it relate that ‘so they had done’?’.
He answers: ‘Each of these two psukim speaks of a completely different aspect: the first passuk, relates to the handiwork of the artisans. This could accurately be seen by any person - who could adjudge if the item was in accordance with the dimensions which had been commanded. All that was needed was a measuring tape, to verify that it had been made correctly.
‘The second passuk: ‘Moshe saw the entire work’ - concerns what only Moshe, with his ruach hakodesh, could see: that not only the physical handiwork had been done as commanded, but that it had been done with the right intentions.
Moshe took a close look at the internal aspect of each item that was brought to him, and satisfied himself that each artisan, in each and every stitch of his work, had invested the necessary intention.
He saw, in his ruah hakodesh, that their had been a complete union of physical work, and intention, just as Hashem had commanded him. Whilst the former could have also been performed by a non-Jewish skilful artisan, the latter could only be attained by an artisan of Bnei Israel, those ‘wise hearted’ men, whom Hashem ‘had filled with a wisdom’, headed by Bezalel, whom Hashem had filled ‘with a G-dly spirit, with wisdom, knowledge and insight’.

Rav Gedalya Schorr adds:’There is a wondrous aspect in relation to the offerings of the people for the construction of the Mishkan: the very item donated - be it gold, silver or any of the thirteen items enumerated to be donated - was in the form donated, used in the construction - not sold, and the proceeds used to purchase other items.
‘The words: ‘whose heart imotivates him to donate’, should be read as ‘who gives his heart’ - and the purer the intention, so too did that which he donated, merit a place in the Mishkan.
A Midrash relates, that, when the Mishkan was completed, Satan came to check, looking to see signs of ‘theft’ - as it was a condition, that only donations made with compete ‘heart’ could be used; he hoped to find donations which were not given with this completeness, to then bring his accusation before the Heavenly Court.’

The Ben Ish Hai offers a beautiful thought, from the psukim, in praise of Bnei Israel:’We read that: ‘At the outset, in Parashat Teruma, Moshe was commanded to only ‘take for Me a portion from every person whose heart motivates him to give.’
‘It is human nature, in any Mitzvah - especially when it involves giving money, or it involves effort - that the initial willingness to do so, lessens with the passage of time, during the actual performance of the Mitzvah.
However, this was not the case in the artisans or the donors to the Mishkan - the Torah states, in our Parasha: even as the work was nearing completion, the artisans and the donors, acted with the same level of heart and commitment, as at the outset, so that all was Moshe saw, that ‘All of the work of the Mishkan was completed, and the children of Israel had done everything that Hashem had commanded Moshe, so did they do.’

The Dubnow Magid asks rhetorically, from the Midrash, what was it that ‘Moshe saw that all had been done, as Hashem commanded’? Which commandment does this allude to?’.
‘He answers:’The commandment alluded to, was Hashem’s command to Moshe: (25:9)’They shall make a Mikdash for Me so that I may dwell among them - like everything that I show you, the form of the Mikdash and the form of all its vessels, and so shall you do’.
‘This commandment alluded to the secret intentions with which this was to be done, all of which Hashem taught Moshe when he ascended the mountain.
‘However, Moshe only commanded Bezalel as to the physical work to be done, the weaving and inscribing; Bezalel, who had been imbued with holy insights from Above, merited to also divine the secret intentions which Hashem had taught Moshe.
‘Thus, Moshe, in his ruach hakodesh, when he looked at ‘all the work’, saw that it had been done, in all respects - physical and accompanying intentions - as ‘Hashem had commanded Moshe’ - and he therefore blessed them.’

The Chatam Sofer sweetens our matter, saying:’’The ‘labor’ refers to the actual physical handiwork; the ‘work’ refers to the donations of the people, their service of Hashem, as we find ‘the service of the heart’, alluding to prayer.
‘No mortal, not even Moshe Rabbeinu, can know what is in the heart of another man.
‘However, when Moshe saw that which bnei Israel brought to him, he knew that they could only have done so, if they had done everything that Hashem had commanded, as they clearly had received Divine assistance.
‘And, as the very first condition that Hashem had stated was that only donations from those whose heart moved them to give, were to be accepted, this proved that this condition had been fulfilled - and he therefore blessed them.’

The Siftei Kohen:provides a beautiful parting insight:’We read that ‘the children of Israel performed all’ that Hashem had commanded Moshe.
‘Yet, we also read that the work was in fact done only by the artisans, headed by Bezalel; so what the Torah allude to, in crediting the work to bnei Israel?
‘However, it was also said, that the people in their yearning, said :’Would that we, too, knew how to do the work, and that we had done it all!.’
‘Hashem deemed their heartfelt yearning , as if they had actually done the work.
‘This is why the Torah credits them, bnei Israel, with doing all the work.’

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